Not your typical breakfast

Book 24 - A book with a color (the challenge is obviously 'Merican) in the title

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

You may be sitting there thinking, "she's getting tired of reading novels". Not the case.

I took to the Google to find a book with a colour in the title and was not satisfied with the results. 

When the Internet failed, I took to the two bookshelves we have in the living room. One bookshelf largely consists of photo albums, Christian devotional and song books, and Ma and Pa's small collection of novels. After searching through Papa's westerns and Moma's romances, I was unable to locate a colourfully titled novel.

I arrived at the next bookshelf with little hope left in my heart. With Moma at my side, we knelt to the floor to observe the two bottom shelves; which are the only shelves with books on them. The second last shelf is Dr. Seuss, Berenstain Bears, and an assortment of Disney fairy tales. The bottom shelf is Can You See What I see?, I Spy, and a collection of other children's books too tall to fit on the shelf above it. 

The choice became, Green Eggs and Ham or One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.

Now I haven't read the latter in quite a while so I can't be sure which was the better choice. 

If you have never sat with Dr. Seuss, then I'm pretty sure you didn't have a childhood. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the book, here is a brief summary.

Our Main Character (who remains nameless throughout the story) is reading quietly when interrupted by Sam who is insistent that Our Main Character try some green eggs and ham. This commences a long trial of Sam asking Our Main Character if he would eat green eggs and ham in/on various modes of transportation or with various types of animals. Poor Sam becomes rather dispirited by the attitude of Our Main Character who won't even try the green eggs and ham.

I was rather discouraged by the dismal air during the first part of the book. I stuck it out till the end, which was a very good thing. Not five pages from the end there is an unexpected plot twist. I don't want to spoil it for you; I just want to make sure you realize that the tone of the story is brightened by the time one meets the conclusion. 

With wonderful illustrations and fantastic rhyming, I really don't understand why anyone would deny loving Dr. Seuss books. That is to say, everyone loves them, some people just tend to deny that they do. 

"She's not fat, she's husky" remarks while looking at Garf, this is t-bear signing off

the FWD movement

Book 23 - A book based on a true story

 

The Freedom Writers Diary

 

I must say, I am embarrassed to share that I have had this novel on my bookshelf for five years and still haven't read it. I really don't know why, because I've recently discovered that it's a wonderful story.

I went to a Christian high school where every year we chose a Prayer Partner who we wrote letters to, drew pictures for and prayed for; from September to December. When Christmas time came around, we were given a theme for what our gift to our Prayer Partner was supposed to be. That year, our theme was thrift stores. We have an MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) store in town which is where I did my shopping.

Anywho, whoever got my name that year wrote a letter to me every single day. I had my suspicions about their identity over the course of the semester, but I didn't truly find out until the evening of Christmas Party. When we were to gather our gifts and deliver them to our Prayer Partner, I finally came face to face with one of my suspicions.

If you haven't already guessed, I received this novel from my Prayer Partner. I was (and have been) told many times that it is a really good read, but I have never actually taken the time to sit and hold it in my hands.

For those of you who haven't heard of their story before:

The Freedom Writers are a group of 150 students who come from various races and mostly live in below par situations in Long Beach, California. They have been classified as "unteachable, at-risk" students who are more familiar with street gun fights than the insides of textbooks. There is more racism in their lives than there is love.

Ms. Gruwell is fresh out of college and, as a newbie, is given the task of teaching these students.

Over the course of these students four years in high school they are taught how they can change their world beginning by simply writing about their lives in a diary. After reading stories such as Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo, and meeting people who have lived in hiding during times of civil unrest in their own countries, the students begin to find parallels between their lives in Long Beach and the stories of their visitors.

I really enjoyed that the story was told only using diary entries from the students and Ms. Gruwell. We wouldn't have received the information in nearly the same way if a third party had told the story. The reader is able to share all the emotions of the writer when a story is written in such a personal way.

There are so many excellent things to learn from the lives of the Freedom Writers. If you get the opportunity to read this novel, please do.

 

this is t-bear signing off

My Sarah Dessen fangirl moment.

Book 22 - A book published this year

 

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

 

To kickoff, if I ever get to BookCon (which will happen) Sarah Dessen had better be there. I will bring all her books and have them all autographed because she is just that spectacular. (The same goes for Rick Riordan.)

Actually, spectacular is not the word. That's correct, there is no word to describe that which is Sarah Dessen.

Anywho, the novel was published in the wonderfully busy year of 2015, which makes it a perfect candidate for the challenge of "a book published this year".

I was a little surprised to find that I had a hard time participating in any activities which didn't include reading, over the past few days. There is this comatose state which one enters into when within the tight grasp of a novel written by Ms. Dessen. It has been awhile since I've read any of her novels. I completely forgot how entirely wonderful it feels to be held captive by the words of another.

There aren't extravagant or complex storylines in her novels. They don't involve inhuman creatures; as in walkers of the night. They are just so very real life that it draws you in and makes you want to stay there forever.

It is a rather interest concept that a fictional storyline can be thought of as completely non-fictional. Although, I live for the moments which take me farthest from reality, I also find a very comfortable home in the lives of characters who have been where I've been. Even though I am continually growing farther from my teenage years, I still enjoy a little flashback to what was, and how I'm happier being past that which was.

If you have ever read a Sarah Dessen novel, you will easily see the reoccurring themes of the cute teenage love story, the difficult relationship between main character and guardian(s) and the ever present discovery of oneself after a time of consuming hardships. The ideas which Sarah translates onto paper are normal things which occur in the lives of teenagers and I think this may be why many people so wholeheartedly identify with the characters.

If you haven't already guessed, I recommend this novel and all of Sarah Dessen's other novels. Read them. Seriously. Do it.

Take a day to be Garf, we all need those, this it t-bear signing off

It's still a story.

Book 21 - A book written by an author with your same initials

Medicine River by Thomas King

It is a truth not so universally known that Google is not always your friend.

I had the pleasure of discovering this truth as I sat down at this very laptop to search for an author with similar initials to my own. After much searching and little finding, I took to the book store. If there is one thing that will brighten the day, it is Chapters.

With M by my side, we headed to the "K" section of the store. Sitting three whole steps above the rest of the store, under the FICTION sign, we browsed. Not only did we find authors with the same initials, we found them in abundance.

I settled on this novel. If you hadn't already guessed, I did not know anything about this author before embarking on the journey that is his novel.

Mr. King is a Canadian author who lives not four hours from my humble abode. He is of Cherokee and Greek descent which are too areas of life that I am rather fascinated by; but that's a chat for another day.

The novel was much different from many that I have read in the past. There always seems to be a point to the novel, there is a direction that we're traveling. Throughout the novel we come across different parts of the main characters life that are carrying us to the ultimate climax, then right along to the peaceful concluding finale.

If I didn't know that the novel was a work of fiction, I would have thought it was a memoir. We didn't seem to be trying to accomplish anything from start to finish. The entire novel was a series of stories, present and past, that occurred in the life of the main character.

But maybe that's the point. The novel doesn't need to have a direction. In 249 pages we got to spend time in the life of someone very different from ourselves. After all, walking in anothers shoes is a very important journey to take in life. 

I enjoyed taking this journey, although, half way through I got a little discouraged because of the whole "no point to the story" idea. I really liked the fact that the story was set in Alberta and Toronto and that I was able to recognize some of the places they were talking about. 

It is a rather wonderful feeling of being connected to someone through the artistry that is words.

Canada, eh? this is t-bear signing off

the truth flowed freely, so did my tear ducts.

Book 20 - A book that made you cry

we were liars by e. lockhart (I'm beginning to think she has something against capital letters.)

This was one of those novels which I discovered on the Chapters website. I thought it sounded good so I bought it. I had no intention of choosing which challenge it would fall under before I had read from front cover to back.

Now I can't say very much about the novel, because it is the most important part which made me ball my eyes out. Moma was slightly concerned for about two seconds.

The novel is about a family, Sinclair to be exact. We have Granny and Grandad, who had three daughters, and then each daughter got married and had their own children. Then they got divorced, one by one.

The family spends each summer on the family island which has four houses (one for each daughter and one for the grandparents).

The Sinclair's are a family of old money, large trust funds and major pride. They have an island all to themselves every summer with a little crew to keep the yards and houses in order.

After Granny dies the three daughters begin to "sell" their oldest child as the best of the grandchildren in order to stake their place in the inheritance.

The Liars are a three of the oldest grandchildren and the nephew of one of the daughters' boyfriend. (It's really not that confusing, just think about it for a minute.) They are referred to as the "Liars" because they caused a lot of trouble as littlies. They are rather important to the story, so pay attention to them.

All was well in the lives of the Sinclair's until Summer Fifteen. That is all I can say about the story.

When I was coming to the end, I started to realize the direction in which we were headed and that's when I knew it was time to grab the facial tissue box. People, my eyes started flowing faster than a breached dam. No joke. I haven't cried while reading a novel in a long while.

It is rather a wonderful thing to have such emotion worked into a story. Whether or not I cry usually determines how fantastic the author is. Having the ability to invoke such emotion into a fictional story is a sign of a true wordscraft.

If you too have seen this novel whilst viewing the beautifulness that is the Chapters website, please take a moment to purchase it. It will definitely be worth your money. Then buy a box of facial tissues before the novel is delivered. Preparation is everything.

Chicken Tuesday just happened, this is t-bear signing off

Warn your nightmares, wait...just kidding.

Book 19 - A book based on or turned into a TV show

Hemlock Grove by Brian McGreevy

My initial idea of this novel was entirely based upon the cover and this, quite frankly, scared me a lot.

Here I was thinking I should be reading this novel for the "A book that scares you" challenge instead. (BTW, I'm still looking for ideas on that one so please suggest. Nothing too scary, I still want to be able to sleep at night.)

After a perusal of the first 50 pages I realized that there was nothing horror film about this novel. I was rather excited about this prospect.

As I was reading, I was also watching episodes of Arrow (specifically season 2, episodes 9 and 10). There were a few moments during the novel where I had to sit myself down and mentally separate the two story lines. I'm not even really sure that I was ever able to successfully do that. 

I sort of lost my place somewhere in the middle, but I found my way back. (That's a movie quote by the way. If you don't know it, I'm appalled.)

I finished Part 1, only to discover that I was sitting in an aura of questions. So much had happened that was just hanging around unanswered. I absolutely love these kinds of novel, but I wasn't prepared for it at first because it has been quite some time since I last read one. With a large amount of patience and some faster reading, I arrived at the end of the story without any questions and loads of spectacular fictional things running through my mind. This may have partly been to blame for my initial lack of sleep last night. I did finish the novel at 10:42 which is rather far past my bedtime.

I haven't yet ventured into the television world that is Hemlock Grove, so please don't ask me if it is better than the novel. In any case, if you know me at all, I will always choose the novel over the screen production. Unless we're talking about The Notebook, that movie was better than the book.

If you are one of those sort who enjoy werewolves and all manner of supernatural beings, please take an hour or two or seven to read this novel; you will enjoy such word ordering. (That is to say, the way in which all the words are ordered to create something so spectacular that I now feel I need to recover before picking up another book. Too bad my soul isn't listening to the pathetic attempt by my brain, it just loves reading so much!)

For those of you who have seen the television show, let me know how it is. You've heard my telling of the novel, now let's compare notes. 

Travel friends, travel, this is t-bear signing off

To catch a big one...

Book 18 - A Pulitzer Prize-winning book

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway 

One could say that this book and I had sort of a blind date. I had never heard of this novel before embarking on the task of finding a Pulitzer Prize-winner that I would enjoy. I had also never read a book written by Mr. Hemingway. The entire idea of Book 18 was indeed a mystery.

If you know me well enough, you will note that I rather detest a pause of reading when there is no chapter, part or section to stop at. I enjoy the ability to read till the next chapter and then stop, knowing that I won't be at all confused when I return to the novel, because I am ready to start a new part of the story. Novels that aren't separated in such a way force the reader to stop reading in the middle of a page or even at the end of a sentence.

To my delight, the novel was such an easy, flowy read that I was able to read it in the span of one day. 

I awoke at 6:23am and proceeded to prepare myself for a trip into town for my 7am chiropractor appointment. Whilst sitting in the waiting room, I began to read the novel. About 6 pages in, I was interrupted and forced to pause my reading. 

That same day, I sat down with my lunch in hand and began to read. I was again interrupted by the call of 1pm when I had reached 53 pages. 

To my delight, with supper finished, I was able to retire to my bedroom to finish the remainder of the novel. 

Throughout the entire story, I kept thinking that there was a metaphor there. I would eventually come across some part of the story that would just about blow my mind to bits. 

I arrived at the end of the story to discover that I had either not looked hard enough for the metaphor, or had been looking too hard and had completely missed it. 

As the title suggests, this novel is about an old man and...wait for it...the sea. 

The old man is a fisherman who hasn't caught a since fish in eighty-four days. He is determined that the eighty-fifth day is going to be the day he catches a big one. Rowing out much farther than most fishermen dare, and casting his lines, the old man begins a journey that will involve days of being pulled across the ocean by a marlin only to end the story wishing he had never caught the marlin in the first place. 

There is a great deal of strength and self-encouragement in the old man's heart; these both lead him to make the great catch. 

I would deem this sort of story to be one of those feel-good, inspirational sorts. Even when faced with a task that appeared impossible, the old man pushed on.

This novel is a simple read, and a very entertaining piece of literature. I believe I would rather enjoy reading more of Mr. Hemingway's novels. I suppose only time will tell.

Happy Moma's Day! this is t-bear signing off